Justice, drabble series
by IrenaAdler
Summary: A 5part Gen drabble series not in my slash 'verse, with Don, Charlie, and AUSA Howard Meeks. Pt 1: Howard has a plan. Pt 2: Howard talks to Charlie. Pt 3: Charlie takes the witness stand. Pt 4: Charlie makes a statement. Pt. 5: They discuss the verdict
1. Character Witness

**Character Witness—**

"You want to put Charlie on the witness stand?" Don asked warily.

"Yes," Howard said. "The plaintiff chose to sue you personally and her side will do its best to paint you as a rash, out-of-control agent."

"I never touched her!"

"I know, I'm just telling you what they'll say. Your brother will be perfect. He's a certified expert witness, he's comfortable in a courtroom, and has a great track record for cases he's testified in."

"But … as a character witness for me?"

"Who could be better?"

"Aren't family members illegal?"

Howard smiled. "Not unless you're married to him."

"I don't know …"

"I don't understand." Howard shook his head. "Your brother's a great speaker and the jury will adore him. If he was my brother, I'd want him to testify."

"Yeah, but you didn't crash the car that Mom and Dad were saving for his college graduation present."


	2. Lack of Evidence

**Lack of Evidence –**

"Why would you need me?" Charlie asked. "Won't the evidence exonerate him?"

Howard sighed, wondering why it was being so hard to convince the Eppes brothers that Charlie should be a character witness for Don. "The alleged incident took place where a security camera had malfunctioned. It's only her word against his, so it's going to be her reputation against his."

"Hmm," Charlie said, in a tone that worried Howard. "Too bad that the suing person is a woman. Do you think they'll bring up Don's reputation as a ladies man? 'Cause he really is."

"Oh?" Howard said with a sinking heart. He'd hoped that that particular rumor wasn't true.

"Or maybe that sometimes he doesn't stop his agents until _they've_ gone too far? I know it's hard to judge when someone else is going to go too far, but once you've worked with someone long enough, you can probably tell and I think sometimes he lets it happen anyway."

Howard winced. "Maybe you better keep that speculation to yourself."

"Okay," Charlie said with a frown. "It's just that I'm used to talking about facts and numbers, not feelings. There's no objective measurement for whether one is telling the truth about feelings. If I say, 'I'm happy' and you say, 'no, you aren't,' how can I argue with that? Certainly not after my feelings are affected by you saying that I wasn't happy, but then perhaps I wasn't happy in the first place by--"

"Umm, never mind," Howard said. "We'll go for another tactic. We don't really need you to testify."

"No, no," Charlie said firmly. "You asked me for my help. I'm always willing to help Don, if I can."

Howard nodded and smiled and wondered if Charlie's help was going to help his brother right into jail.


	3. Witness Stand

**Witness Stand**

"Yes, yes, your brother is wonderful and brave. Can you even say anything bad about him?"

"Objection!"

"Counselor?"

"Your Honor, I'm just testing the witness's honesty."

"I'll allow it."

"So, Dr. Eppes, tell us something negative about your brother."

"Ummm. He comes over to my house without warning and eats stuff. He has trouble maintaining, um, romantic relationships because of his job. He's bad at losing games."

"Or a case?"

"Huh?"

"He wants to win, so he pushes too far."

"No, I wouldn't—"

"Have you seen him intimidate suspects?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Yell at suspects?"

"Some, but—"

"Physically touch suspects?"

"Well—"

"Push them around, just a little?"

"The only time I ever saw him get rough …"

"Yes?"

"… was with a guy who he knew had killed another agent."

"So your brother is capable of violence towards a suspect."

"Anyone is capable of violence, and with the things Don sees—"

"A little bit of violence is normal."

"Objection! Dr. Eppes is not here as an expert on 'reasonable force.'"

"Keep it focused, Counselor."

"Yes, Your Honor. Dr. Eppes, would you say your brother has excellent impulse control?"

"Sure."

"He's never done anything rash?"

"Well, not _never_."

"He's given in to his darker side?"

"Sure, but I've known him all my life, so—"

"With the things he's seen, it's only rational that he'd snap occasionally."

"'Snapping' is irrational, by definition."

"And people can't always be rational."

"We might aspire to it, but, no."

"So, in summation, your brother is inconsiderate of others, unable to maintain personal connections, a poor loser, capable of violence, rash and irrational."

"Hey, wait!"

"Thank you, Dr. Eppes. No more questions."

Grimacing, Charlie looked apologetically at Don. Howard smiled brightly and resisted the urge to put his face in his hands.


	4. Statement for the Defense

**Statement for the Defense—**

Howard walked slowly to the witness stand where Charlie sat, looking anxious and apologetic. Maybe the Eppes brothers had been right, that Charlie was a bad choice for a character witness. Now Howard was about to gamble again – with the case, with Don's career, with his own.

"Dr. Eppes," Howard said, "You haven't gotten a chance to speak freely. I'd like to hear whatever you want to say, take your time."

Charlie blinked at him then stared off into space while Howard tried not to hold his breath.

"Okay," Charlie said at last. "This trial is about what may or may not have happened between two people. I can't say what happened there, but I can tell you about my brother.

"If Don's guilty of anything in his life, it's of caring too much. God knows how he doesn't get jaded, but he cares about his job, about people in trouble, about the truth. He even cares about people who do terrible things. You watch him in interrogation and you know that he cares. I've seen hard-core criminals open up to him, small children. I know that there's some skill involved there, but there's also a fundamental empathy." Charlie grimaced. "Sometimes I wonder if he got all the empathy and understanding in the family.

"I've worked with many different organizations, and seen lots of people who believe that the end justifies the means. But Don isn't like that. When it comes to his job, he's never petty or sloppy, never cuts corners. When he makes mistakes, he admits them, fixes them.

"That is why I can tell you, even though I wasn't there, that I know without a doubt that Don didn't hurt that woman. He wouldn't and he didn't. I know it."

"Thank you, Dr. Eppes. The defense rests."


	5. Postmortem

**Postmortem—**

Smiling, Howard raised a beer with the two Eppes brothers. "To Don, a free man."

"Hear, hear!" Charlie said and Don echoed fervently.

The three of them took a slug of beer then Howard raised his bottle again. "To Charlie, who gave me indigestion, some gray hairs, and a win."

"You think I helped?" Charlie asked after another gulp of beer.

Howard smiled as he shook his head. "Before your earnest little speech, the jury was torn between wanting to believe Don and thinking that he's a jerk. After that speech, the jury came back with a 'Not Guilty' so fast I didn't have time to pop an antacid."

Charlie beamed.

"See, buddy?" Don said, nudging Charlie. "And you were worried."

"You weren't?" Charlie shot back.

"Oh, maybe a teeny bit," Don admitted. "But it was a helluva speech."

"Thanks," Charlie flushed. "It was all true, you know."

"I'm glad," Don smiled. "Wouldn't want you to perjure yourself for me."

"I didn't have to," Charlie said. "But I would have, if you'd needed me to."

"I didn't hear that," Howard said, covering his ears.

"You made a speech without any math analogies," Don teased. "Must have been a record for you."

"I have entire conversations without math analogies!" Charlie protested. "I can talk about … um, physics and … movies and politics, at least university politics. Oh, and baseball stats!"

Don laughed. "What an exciting date you must be."

"I can talk about art, too," Charlie continued. "I can speak quite eloquently about balance and proportions in visual art."

"Math again, Chuck," Don said and Charlie frowned thoughtfully.

"That reminds me," Howard said. "Don, you remember Juror #9?"

"The blonde with the nice smile and nice, um, posture? Of course, I remember her."

Howard grinned. "She wants your phone number."


End file.
